VEDL Vedanta Limited

By Alex MacDonald

LONDON--India-focused Vedanta Resources PLC (VED.LN) reported mixed output for its fourth financial quarter and said it has amended its debt covenants as it reviews the value of its assets for potential impairments, particularly in oil and gas, following a protracted rout in commodity prices.

The FTSE-250 natural resources firm said gross oil and gas output, its largest earnings driver, fell 9% to 197,039 barrels of oil equivalent a day for the three months ended March 31, compared with the same period a year earlier, due to a natural decline in oil and gas resources.

Refined zinc output, another key earnings driver, from India, dropped 29% to 154,00 tons while zinc output from its international operations fell 39% to 42,000 tons due to the planned closure of its Ireland-based Lisheen mine in November.

Copper output from Vedanta's troubled Zambian operations rose 1% on year to 29,000 tons in the fourth financial quarter while iron ore output from the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa continued to benefit from a restarting operations last year a mining ban was lifted and an iron ore export duty was removed from March 1.

Vedanta said its lending banks have agreed to make amendments to certain debt covenants between March 2016 to September 2018 to ensure Vedanta is compliant with its debt covenants for the financial year ending March 31.

The natural resources company also said it is reviewing the carrying value of all its assets and long-term price assumptions in light of the current commodity price weakness, particularly in oil and gas, to determine whether it should report any impairments.

Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 11, 2016 02:55 ET (06:55 GMT)

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